Calendar of the Sun
3 Hrethemonath
Festival of the Girlchild
Colors: Any mix of bright colors
Element: Water
Altar: Lay cloth of bright colors. On this day, let girl children below the age of their first blood
come into the house and lay upon the altar their most beloved dolls and toys, and hang pictures
that they have drawn, and set on the altar what food they would offer to their toys, of their choice,
to be provided by the house.
Offerings: Give gifts to girl children, especially of time and attention and companionship.
Daily Meal: What the girl children choose, so long as it is within the eating rules of the house.
Invocation to the Sacred Girlchild
March gales April rainbow
Breath indrawn in anticipation
Hair whipping wild
May sunlight June bonfire
Electric passion beneath the ribs
Cat dancer in the coals
March storm April dew
Cool laughter bubbles up inside
Wading in the rushes
May clover June narcissus
Ankle-deep in sun-warmed loam
And the green-scented grasses
She is the boundaries of her own universe
And is She not her own most wonderful creation?
She will grow and change and die
Yet at this moment She does not care.
Maiden, adorn us with flowers.
Teach us to throw snowballs
to topple the defenses of dignity and pride.
Teach us to weep unabashed
And laugh unafraid.
Never let us lose your friendship
Lest we be lost to ourselves.
(All join hands including those girl children who wish it, and dance in a circle.)
[Pagan Book of Hours]